Welding ring



June 15, 1954 s. L. PHILLIPS 2,681,028

WELDING RING Filed April 29, 1950 Patented June 1,5, 1954 WELDING RINGStanley L. Phillips, Rocky River, Ohio, assignor to Wedge Protectors,Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application April 29, 1950, Serial No. 159,095

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to welding rings or socalled chill rings intendedfor use in making welded joints between pairs of adjacent pipe ends orother tubular articles and, as one of its objects, provides an improvedconstruction for Welding rings of this character by which the oppositeends oi the annularly curved strip forming such a ring are adapted to bemaintained in an aligned relation.

Another object is to provide an improved welding ring of the kindmentioned in which the opposite ends of the annularly curved strip havecooperating aligning elements comprising a recess formed in one of suchends and a projection f substantially the same plan shape carried by theother of such ends and engaging in the recess.

Still another object is to provide an improved welding ring for thepurpose indicated in which the cooperating recess and projectionconstituting the aligning elements are of a dovetail shape forpreventing separation of the opposed ends.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent in thedrawing and in the following detailed description.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved welding ring showing the samein detached relation and illustrating the end aligning means thereof;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the ring;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken in an axial direction through a weldingring embodying the present invention and through a pair of adjacent pipeends to be connected thereby and illustrating the manner in which thering is used;

Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive are partial outside elevational views of weldingrings embodying the present invention but showing other speciic forms ofend aligning means;

Figs. 8 and 9 are partial side elevations showing the end aligning meansapplied to relatively wide welding rings; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the crosssectional shape of the Widerings of Figs. 8 and 9.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the improved Welding ring I0comprises a metal strip of an appropriate cross-sectional shape curvedto annular or circular form so that the ends II and I2 of the strip arein an opposed or circumferentially aligned relation. The strip fromwhich the ring is formed is here shown as having a cross-sectional shapewhich includes a substantially V-shape ridge or projection I3 on oneside thereof and located at substantially the midpoint of the strip. Thestrip is preferably also of a varying thickness which is a maximum forthe intermediate portion of the strip on which the projection I3 isformed and has portions of progressively decreasing thickness whichprovide relatively thin tapered edges I4 and I5 at opposite ends of thering. When the strip has been formed to an annular or sleeve shape toconstitute the ring I0, the ridge I3 extends in continuous relationcircumferentially around the eX- ternal periphery of the ring andprovides an abutment stop adapted to be engaged by the ends of the pipelengths or other annular members to be welded together.

As already indicated above in a general Way, this invention providesaligning means by which the opposed ends II and I2 of the welding ringIt are adapted to be maintained in the desired aligned relation. Figs.1, 2 and 3 show one form of this aligning means embodied in the weldingring i0 and comprising a recess I6 formed in the ring end I! and aprojection Il of substantially the same plan shape as the recess andengaging therein. In this form of the aligning means the recess i6 hassubstantially the shape of a triangle, preferably an isosceles triangle,and the projection I'I which is carried by the end I2 is also anisosceles triangle and engages snugly in the recess I6.

In producing the welding rings I0, blanks or sections of the stripmaterial of the desired cross-sectional shape are cut to appropriatelength and are then rolled or otherwise formed to the ring shape. Whenthe lengths are cut from the strip stock, the recess I6 and theprojection Il are formed on a pair of adjacent blank ends during thiscutting operation. In this Way the recess and projection of this novelaligning means can be obtained without requiring any additional machineoperations and without involving any waste of the strip stock material.It will also be seen that the ridge I3 extends into and forms a part ofthe projection Il of the ring end I2. The fact that the ridge I3 extendsinto the projection I7 is an advantage because it reinforces thisprojection an-d decreases the likelihood of the projecting becoming bentYor otherwise deiiected from its proper position.

Fig. 3 illustrates the use of the improved welding ring I0 forconnecting a pair of adjacent pipe ends I8 and I9. When used for thispurpose, the ring I Il has its ends telescoped into the bell portionsI8a and I9a of the pipe ends and spans the joint formed by these pipeends. The ridge I3 of the welding ring extends radially outwardlybetween the pipe ends and is engaged thereby as a stop or abutment whichmaintains the pipe ends in the desired spaced relation denning anannular groove 20 in which a weld 2i can be formed for connecting thepipe ends.

By reason of the aligning means provided by the recess I6 and theprojection Il, the ends of the ring I will be held in properly alignedrelation which will maintain the ring in a truly circular shape and willfacilitate the insertion of the ring into the pipe ends. Moreover, whenthe ring i@ has been inserted into the pipe ends, this aligning meanswill continue to hold the ring in its circular shape regardless of someshifting of the pipe sections which may take place prior to the formingof the weld. The relatively thin tapered edges i and i at opposite endsof the ring are desirable because they will lie adjacent the belledportions 58a and 59a of the pipe ends and will not present obstructionsto the passage of material through the pipe line.

Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, show other Welding rings generally similar tothe welding ring it and also embodying the novel feature of the endaligning means.

Fig. 4 shows a welding ring 22 in which the end aligning means is formedby a substantially square nat-sided and flat-ended recess 23 in the ringend 2d and a substantially square flat-sided and ilat-ended projection25 carried by the ring end 2i; and of substantially the same size andplan shape as the recess 23 and engaging therein.

Fig. 5 shows a welding ring 2? in which the aligning recess 28 of thering end 23 is a fiatsided round-ended recess and the projection 36engaging in such recess and carried by the ring end 3| is acorresponding nat-sided round-ended projection.

Figs. 6 and 7 show welding rings 32 and 3S in which the aligning meansis formed by a cooperating recess and projection and in which theseelements have a dovetail shape for preventing separation of the ringends, as well as for maintaining these ends in an aligned or registeringrelation. In Fig. 6 the recess Sil of the ring end 35 is a fiat-sidedrecess having a substantially rectangular head portion 34a and a slotportion 34h extending outwardly therefrom to the end face of the ringend. The projection 36 of the ring end 3l' is of a corresponding shapehaving a substantially rectangular head portion Sea and a connectingstein portion Btl).

In the welding ring 33 of Fig. 7 the dovetail recess 38 of the ring end39 has a rounded or oval head portion 38a and the projection 4Q of thering end 4I has a similar rounded or oval shaped head portion 49a.

Figs. 8 and 9 show welding rings 42 and i3 of the same type as the ringi but which have a greater axial length and have been formed fromrelatively wide strip stock so as to have substantially thecross-sectional shape illustrated in Fig. l0. The ring l2 has itsadjacent ends iii and #l5 connected and aligned by cooperating dovetailelements comprising the recess i5 and the projection 4l. The recess t6and the projection il have a tapered shape defined by a flat transverseend i8 and inwardly converging tapered sides 49.

As shown in Fig. 9 the welding ring :i3 employs two sets of aligningrecesses and projections E and 5l and which are located on oppositesides of the abutment ridge i3. The recess E and the projection 5| eachcomprise a nat-sided stem portion 52 and a head portion having a flatend 53 and inwardly converging arcuate sides 54.

In the joints of all of the welding rings shown in Figs. 1 to 9inclusive, the opposed ends of the strip have end portions on oppositesides of the abutment ridge Which are square-cut end portions orshoulders and define a joint which is substantially straight, axially ofthe sleeve.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing it will nowbe readily understood that when Welding rings are provided with thecooperating aligning recess and projection herein disclosed, the ringsare capable of more satisfactorily serving the purpose for which theyare intended. It will also be seen that when these aligning elements arebrought into an engaged or interfitting relation at the time of themanufacture of the rings, the ends will be held in a substantiallyclosed and properly aligned relation and this will not only facilitateinsertion of the rings into the pipe ends at tie place of use but Willfacilitate the intermediate handling and shipping of the rings becausethey are less likely to become entangled with each other. It will alsobe seen that these aligning elements are obtainable on the ring endswithout involving any additional machine operations cr waste of anystock and, moreover, when the rings are to be inserted into the pipeends the welders time will be materially conserved because he will notneed to straighten or adjust the ring and can insert the same morereadily and accurately into the pipe ends. Additionally, it will be seenthat in the case of the aligning means having the dovetail shape thering end will also be held in a locked condition which preventsseparation thereof after they have been initially aligned with eachother. l

Although the improved welding rings of this invention have beenillustrated and described herein to a somewhat detailed extent it willbe understood, of course, that the invention is not to be regarded asbeing limited correspondingly in scope but includes all changes andmodications coming within the terms of the claims hereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A Welding ring for use in a pair of adjacent pipe ends, comprising asleeve formed by an annularly curved strip having its ends located inopposed substantially meeting relation, said sleeve being adapted fortelescoping engagement in said pair of pipe ends and having an externalannularly extending substantially radially projecting abutment ridgeintegrally formed thereon intermediate the ends of the sleeve andadapted to be engaged by said pipe ends, and aligning elements carriedby the opposed ends of said strip and cooperating to hold said opposedends in an aligned relation in the direction of the circumference ofsaid sleeve, one of said aligning elements being a recess formed in andextending entirely through one of said opposed ends in a directionsubstantially radially of said sleeve and the other of said elementsbeing a projection carried by the other of said opposed ends and havingsubstantially the same plan shape as said recess and engaging in andsubstantially filling said recess, said aligning elements being locatedsubstantially in the plane of said abutment ridge and the projection ofsaid other end constituting an integral circumferential continuation ofand being of substantially the same radial thickness as the one of saidends by which it is carried and being formed in part and reinforced by aportion of said abutment ridge, said opposed ends having substantiallysquare-cut end portions on opposite sides of said elements and defininga joint which is substantially straight axially of said sleeve.

2. A Welding ring as dened n claim 1 in which said recess and projectionare of a dovetail plan shape and form an interlock preventing separationof said opposed ends in a direction circumferentially of said sleeve.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Royce Mar. 25, 1919 Ayers May 28, 1929 Fisher Nov. 27, 1934Kachel Jan. 8, 1935 England et al Sept. 28, 1943 Dillon June 7, 1949Scherrer May 9, 1950

